The purpose of the paper is to observe and analyze how the dynamics of macroeconomic factors impact the evolution of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) during the latest crisis (Covid-19 pandemic and ...the Ukrainian war), through the lens of various market stock indices (BET, BetPlus, BET-FI and BETNG). After the monthly values of both the macroeconomic factors (inflation rate, unemployment rate, RONEURO exchange rates, industrial production index, average salary, money supply, interest rate and oil price) and Bucharest Stock Exchange indices were collected, during the period January 2020- June 2023, the descriptive statistics was used to describe all the observed data (mean value, standard deviation, minimum/ maximum value). Finally, the multiple regression was used to see exactly how the Romanian stock market indices are influenced by any changes of macroeconomic factors.
Platinum-based materials are widely known as the most utilized and advanced catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. For this reason, several studies have reported alternative methods of ...incorporating this metal into more economical electrodes with a carbon-based support material. Herein, we report on the performance of pencil graphite electrodes decorated with electrochemically deposited platinum nanoparticles as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. The electrodeposition of platinum was performed via pulsed current electrodeposition and the effect of current density on the electrocatalytic activity was investigated. The obtained electrodes were characterized using cyclic voltammetry, while the electrocatalytic activity was assessed through linear sweep voltammetry. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were utilised to gain an insight into surface morphology and chemical analysis of platinum nanoparticles. The best performing electrocatalyst, at both low and high current densities, was characterized by the highest exchange current density of 1.98 mA cm
and an ultralow overpotential of 43 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm
. The results show that, at low current densities, performances closest to that of platinum can be achieved even with an ultralow loading of 50 µg cm
Pt.
The purpose of the paper is to observe and analyze how the dynamics of macroeconomic factors influence the evolution of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) through the lens of the main stock indices ...(BET, BET-Plus, BET-FI), but also of the stock market capitalization. The research carried out consists of four stages. First, the monthly values of the macroeconomic factors considered were collected (inflation rate, reference interest rate, unemployment rate, RON-EURO and RON-USD exchange rates, producer price index, gold price, average salary and the Covid-19 number of cases) during the period 2020-2021, as well as the monthly values of the Bucharest Stock Exchange market indices (BET-Plus, BET and BET-FI) and of the stock market capitalization. These data were collected from the websites: www.bvb.ro (Bucharest Stock Exchange), www.bnr.ro (National Bank of Romania), www.innse.ro (National Institute of Statistics) and www.ms.ro (Ministry of Health). Then, the descriptive statistics was used to describe the collected data (mean value, standard deviation, minimum/ maximum value). This step is followed by the use of the Pearson correlation to capture the correlation between each stock market index and the macroeconomic factor included in the analysis. And finally, multiple regression was used to see exactly how the Romanian stock market indices are influenced by any changes of macroeconomic factors.
Modern rural tourism is an umbrella concept, including a wide range of (niche) type tourism related to the countryside/rural areas. The central attractions of rural tourism are induced by the ...closeness to nature and new cultural experiences related to (local) history and intangible heritage. The interest for a rural destination being increased by an environment considered appealing from natural and aesthetic viewpoints, allowing for various forms of recreation.This preliminary study answers the following question: which are the drivers of the accommodation development in rural areas in Romania? taking into consideration only the potential tourist attractions that could be identified based on official records (e.g. historic monuments, the status of resort for a given locality, the registered vineyards, the two rankings from 2008 and 2012). The overall conclusion of the study is that the potential tourist attractions have a relatively small influence on the development of Romanian rural lodgings. Therefore, more factors should be added in order to understand the accommodation development in rural areas in Romania.
Urban areas have been long since considered important tourism destinations. By offering a broad and heterogeneous range of attractions, urban tourism provide various choices for different types of ...tourists and segments of tourism market. Despite being considered an important form of tourism world-wide (Ashworth & Page, 2011), the aggregate volume and value of urban tourism remain unknown at global level (Heeley, 2015). In Romania also, urban tourism is also dominant from tourist arrivals viewpoint. Though, the official documents concerning tourism development in Romania do not include an integrated vision on urban tourism.The present paper discusses the evolution of urban tourism accommodation facilities in Romania's urban areas between 2005 and 2016 at national and regional level and offers a complete picture of urban tourism evolution over a decade. The study includes all the officially registered lodgings, as they appear in the official database offered by the central authority for tourism, including 40 counties and 7 development regions. Furthermore, the survey includes all the types of accommodation facilities registered in urban areas and the whole range of lodging capacities, including the category of 1 to 4 rooms not taken into consideration by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). The study also provides a profile of the lodging facilities for the Romanian urban localities. The present study complements the previous study of Pop et al. (2017) and use the same structure for presenting the data in order to allow the comparison between urban and rural tourist accommodation facilities development between urban and rural areas in 2005 and 2016.
To the best of our knowledge, no previous study exits on the survival of tourist accommodation units and/or on the economic entities related to these accommodations in Romania. Therefore no such ...study exists in relation with the rural accommodation units. Through the present study we try to make a small step in filling the research gap regarding the survival of extant rural accommodation units in a developing country, Romania. The findings show an overall simple survival rate (SSR) of 38.21%. The existence of tourist attractions (spa/mountain resorts and World Heritage Sites) improve the extant lodgings SSR, while exceptions exist in the counties of Sibiu, Neamt, Suceava, Cluj and Harghita. The dominant surviving accommodation units are the rural pensions. The owners/operators of the survivor lodgings are mainly individual enterprises, though between 2005 and 2016 the number of operators registered as LLCs increased. Indirectly, the findings also imply that most of the survivor lodgings can be considered lifestyle enterprises.
Few Romanian companies implemented remote work before the pandemic breakdown. The employees’ experience with telecommuting started or for some increased suddenly in 2020 due to the lockdown ...restrictions. Therefore, the focus of this study was to examine the perception of employees from the perspective of well-being and work-life balance during telework. The quantitative approach was applied in the case of two companies and data was collected through a survey. The findings identified the influence of isolation from colleagues and friends on the state of loneliness which could lead to depression or tension, additionally affecting anxiety. These than are linked to the well-being and work-life balance of teleworkers. In reverse the state of calm and relaxation, and the condition of being active and energetic boost the employees’ well-being. Also, the relaxed home working environment that could also include pets and time spent on personal activities enhance the work-life balance. Thus, the results emphasize the respondents’ preference for telecommuting is the outcome of their awareness of work-life balance and well-being.
The Pandemic affected significantly the economies worldwide. The SMEs represent the backbone of all economies as they are the main source of added-value, innovation/progress, development and they ...also generate a significant number of jobs. Besides this, it is a known fact that they are very vulnerable to the environment in which they operate as they do not possess enough resources and power to face the important threats such as those caused by the COVID-19. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to present some insight on how the Romanian entrepreneurs were affected by the crisis caused by Covid-19. Through interviews we collected data concerning the main problems they faced, the changes that have made on their business model and how their business were affected in terms of number of employees, turnover, product/service portfolios or investments.
The modern type of rural tourism emerged during the 1970s and the 1980s (Lane & Kastenholz 2015). The rural tourism concept amalgamates different types of tourism that overlap and intertwine. It is ...largely agreed that rural tourism can assist the rural areas’ restructuring path mainly if its introduction rather complement the existing activities and is incorporated in the local economies and social structures. Since 1995 rural tourism was identified by Romanian authorities also as a major growth area that can address social and cultural inequalities. The present paper shows the growth of rural accommodation facilities over a decade (2005 and 2016). The survey also presents the spatial distribution of rural accommodations pointing toward a decrease in the uneven geographical distribution of rural lodgings through the entry on the rural tourist market of new localities. Furthermore, this research study reveals the diversification of rural accommodation portfolio regarding the type of accommodation, the ranking/classification of the respective lodgings and the lodging capacity. In addition, the paper draws the profile of rural accommodation facilities at national and regional levels, presenting the dominant type of accommodation units, the dominant classification and the dominant lodging capacity. The information is completed by the growth rate of lodgings and rooms and by the standing of rural accommodation in each county and region. Romania’s rural tourism reached this growth phase, thus it is difficult to evaluate how advanced the growth phase is. There is still an unexploited potential that can support further expansion. While the further development is expected to bring an increase in the number of localities reporting accommodation, it is also expected that an increase in quality of services and facilities along with a wider range of entertainment activities based on innovation should occur.
In order to understand the impact of Covid-19 on different economies, this paper tries to underline the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic over some of the most traded currencies. For this purpose, a ...period of 3 years has been taken into consideration and the data was analyzed with the help of MetaTrader platform. The findings indicate a correlation between the pandemic and the volatility of the analyzed exchange rates. The results indicate that the observed pairs where affected negatively by the pandemic crisis. Thus, the effect of the pandemic is not only on a short time, but the effects will also be seen on a longer period of time.